For the past year and a half I have been dealing with pain in my lower back. I have not paid much attention to it because it only bothers me when I try to get out of bed and sometimes when I sneeze or cough laying down. Other than that, it has never interfered with training, racing, working or any other daily chore. To get out of bed, I just roll over to the side and off I go. Mind you, in pain, but off I go. Then my body just warms up and I’m good for the rest of the day.

Since I’m on my self-imposed off season, I decided to make an appointment with an orthopedic doctor. Today was that appointment. Short story long, the last disc on my spine is worn out. Like really worn out. He made a little drawing that looked something like this:

And I was like: WTF?

I felt a hole in my stomach and my eyes started to tear up when he said that the type of sport I am doing is not helping at all. That he couldn’t tell me not to do it, but that he would recommend not doing it given that I was almost 50.

To tell you the truth, the reason why I wanted to check on this pain was precisely because I am no young chicken anymore, but the way things are going, it looks like I will be on this planet for at least another 20 years, unless I get run over by a truck or something like that. I am very healthy; I don’t have high blood pressure, or any other illnesses; I’m vegetarian; I don’t smoke, and I don’t drink much either… every blue moon I will have a glass of wine or two, but when I am training, I don’t ingest alcohol. If you take a look at what I’ve been doing for the last year and a half from my Tuesday post, you can can do the math on how many glasses I have had. The bottom line is, if I live to be 70, I want my body to be as pain-free as possible, and without the use of a cane.

He said yoga was excellent. He also said swimming couldn’t harm me. He even said the bike would be ok, just not now until I got through therapy because of the aero-bar position. He did say the run was the no-no. The pounding on the body is not good for my “traitor” disc. Fun! Of the three sports, that’s my strongest one. Hey, I’m not saying I’m fast and furious when it comes to running. I’m just saying that it’s my strongest discipline. You figure out the rest.

As the day progressed, I texted and emailed my friends, who all gave me solutions. From acupuncture (which I will definitely do) to learning how to speed walk to “don’t worry about it” to wearing the Hoka shoes, which is like tying yourself to two mattresses the size of your feet. One of my friends reminded me of Sister Madonna who has completed several Ironman races speed walking. But, when I went to check her out, she actually runs. Fast. Fast enough. Faster than me on a good disc. Ok, I may be exaggerating this time.

Anyway, the day ended on a higher note. My heart was not as heavy as in the morning, and there’s was light at the end of my tunneled head. For now, I will be going to physical therapy and checking in with the doctor in three weeks time. And as hard as it was to hear this news today, I still was able to feel blessed. Blessed that I was aware of this condition and blessed that if I have to change gears and take another route in life, then so be it. Change is good. Always good.

Good night, folks!

P.S.: I went to the supermarket today and just had to get me some Frosted Flakes to comfort me. I know. Absolutely not healthy. 130 calories with 12 grams of sugar. I could probably go out for a short run now. 🙂